Newly elected Governor Greg Abbot declared today (Feb. 2) "Chris Kyle Day" in Texas.
Today is the second anniversary of Kyle's murder at the hands of a fellow veteran he was trying to help. Kyle's funeral procession stretched from Austin to Dallas.
Eddie Ray Routh, Kyle's alleged killer, goes in trial next week in Stephenville, Texas. Routh faces a maximum sentence of life in prison because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
The Clint Eastwood's controversial movie about Kyle, "American Sniper," continues to be the top film in current release and it has already racked up $250 million.
Michael Moore and others have condemned the film: Moore, whose uncle was killed by a sniper in World War II, said snipers were "cowards." My Dad, who lost a childhood friend to a German sniper after the war was officially over, held a similar opinion.
While I respect Michael Moore and I loved my Dad, all of the vituperation calls for a bit of perspective.
Like it or not, sniper is an important military job. What Kyle did is no different than what other Navy SEALs did when they killed the Somali pirates holding Captain Phillips hostage.
Sniper is also a highly sought after position. Applicants have to already have been assigned to infantry, scout or special forces units. The standards are high, training is tough and washout/dropout rates are high: 50% for the Army's sniper course and 60% for the Marine version.
According to his own statements, Kyle killed 160 people during his tours of duty in the Middle East. Also, by his own account, Kyle had some real problems.
There is a price to pay for being good at some jobs.
I once knew an ex-submariner who did two tours of duty as a missileman on a boomer. He was a nice guy, but very quiet. He took his mustering-out pay and bonuses and bought a small bar out in the middle of nowhere. He just wanted to be far away from anywhere. Years of tending to real weapons of mass destruction took its toll on him, too.
Another fellow was an Army infantryman stationed at Khe Sanh during the Tet Offensive. During the battle, he and another soldier saw a young Vietnamese girl near where the fighting was going on. They ran to get her and bring her to safety but when they drew close, she raised her arms, detonating the grenades she had hidden. Result? One dead Vietnamese girl, one dead American soldier and one wounded American soldier.
Combat changes people. Many times, the needs of the military go against every decent thing a person has grown up believing. They live through that and are then expected to merge seamlessly back into society.
Kyle, like a lot of people, believed the lies from the White House and bought into the myth. Remember, we don't have a draft anymore: our military is all-volunteer. Kyle believed in what he was doing: how could you perform the job you were ordered to perform if you didn't believe what you were doing was right.
There's a certain amount of depersonalization involved with any combat job. One doesn't take the life of an individual with family and friends, hopes and dreams; one kills the enemy because that's what's needed at the time. Then one goes on to kill the next enemy.
A CNN reporter once asked a Marine sniper what he felt when he pulled the trigger. He answered, "Recoil."
We make heroes out of our servicemen and women. We always have. Chris Kyle killed 160 of the enemy, the most of any sniper in American history, so he's a hero. Richard Bong was awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down 40 Japanese fighters in World War II (Bong died at the age of 24) and he was a hero. One of the greatest American heroes of the 20th Century was Alvin York, a pacifist, who killed 28 German soldiers in World War I and received the Medal of Honor. He later looked back and questioned the rationale for America's participation in the conflict, saying it didn't seem to have done any good (York also served in World War II). There was a movie "Sergeant York" made of his actions and, like "American Sniper," it was both praised and panned along political lines. Some called it propaganda.
I am not suggesting that you like "American Sniper." I'm not even suggesting that you see the movie or buy the book.
What I am suggesting is that, before you shout your righteous outrage from the rooftops, you consider the larger picture. Chris Kyle has become a hero to many Americans because he did exactly what we wanted him to do and he died, no matter what you think of the idea of dealing with PTSD through fun with firearms, trying to help another vet to adjust to civilian life. Many people who have been through what Kyle went through admire him.
That doesn't mean you have to admire him but it might be worth your while to spend a moment or two trying to understand what made Chris Kyle what he was.
BTW: Don't forget that Clint Eastwood is the one who talked to an empty chair at the Republican National Convention. C'mon, folks, he's 84 years old and so right-wing that he almost makes Ted Nugent look liberal (well, moderate). What were you expecting?